Angeli is the Founder and COO at Workast. Her team ensures our users have an exceptional customer experience with Workast and takes care of all user issues.
As a small business owner, you know that you cannot sustain success without good task management. If you don’t know how to allocate your time and energy, there’s no way to fulfill everything on your to-do list and maintain your work quality.
In many ways, everyday life is the same. If you manage your time poorly, forget to pick up your kids at school, or keep procrastinating on that home improvement project, you could be in for some serious problems! That’s why Workast is sharing these business task management skills that can translate to your daily life:
Your first step will be to set goals for yourself. When you have goals, it helps you keep the vision and focus necessary for getting to your destination. Knowing where you want to go will help you to manage your resources and time. For example, if your goal is to have more date nights with your partner, then you will start to recognize the things worth your time and what distractions to avoid.
A good place to start is to evaluate where you want to be in three to six months. Make sure that you establish realistic, measurable goals that you can achieve.
There is no task management without prioritizing. When the tasks keep piling up, it’s challenging to know what order you should address them in. This is especially the case when everything seems urgent!
If you establish clear goals, however, it can help you prioritize your activities more easily. To figure out which commitments to tackle first, consider why you are doing the task or activity, how it promotes your goals, and how far it will take you toward your destination.
Keeping a to-do list is a simple way to remember when you need to do each task. It essentially helps you to keep your day ordered, which can go a long way in reducing stress and motivating you to press through.
Workast makes it easy for teams to create tasks in Slack when they are having a conversation so tasks a never forgotten. Having a task list which is easily accessible will help your team to keep on track.
If you try to remember all of your responsibilities in your mind, it’s probably not going to work out. You can help yourself out by maintaining a straightforward daily or weekly list on a notepad or mobile app.
Technology is a great resource when it comes to saving time as a small business owner. And the more free time you have from work, the more time you have for your family and personal life! Consider any software tools that could benefit your daily workload. Here are a few types of software to consider:
Project management software
Accounting software
Website builders
Graphic design tools
Social media management tools
File management software
Customer relationship management (CRM) software
Another way to work more efficiently and open up more time for yourself is to look for professional services that can tackle administrative tasks. For example, ZenBusiness will handle all the legwork of establishing your LLC. That way, you can enjoy flexibility, tax advantages, and protection from liability without spending hours of time and energy in the process.
As an entrepreneur, there’s simply no way to manage everything on your own, especially when you are trying to maintain a fulfilling life outside of work. That’s why you should start looking for areas and tasks that you can delegate to others.
Dishing out the responsibilities that are distracting you from your goals will save you time, lower your stress levels, and help you achieve more in business and in life.
Along with using a to-do list, create a detailed schedule that accounts for all of your tasks. Start by assessing your most productive hours of the day, and allocate your most energy-intensive tasks for those time periods. For instance, if you work best in the early morning, schedule your high-value jobs during that peak.
You can use a calendar to create and schedule the tasks you need to do. Pictured below is how you can organize tasks using Workast on a calendar.
Also, use your least productive hours for less demanding tasks like returning calls or responding to emails. Embracing your peak hours and downtimes will help you find a rhythm that keeps you productive.
Nothing will steal your time more than procrastination. While it’s common to hold off on the tasks that you are dreading, it’s critical that you push through and get your urgent jobs done. If you don’t feel like doing a particular task, it likely means that now is the best time to do it!
Don’t be afraid to push yourself toward tackling your responsibilities. If you need to, tell yourself that you are only going to work on the project for 10 or so minutes; once the creative juices start flowing, you might have the energy and motivation to knock it out.
For most people, multitasking kills productivity. That’s because we are wired to focus on one task at a time. When possible, fight the urge to work on projects while browsing the internet and talking on the phone. Avoiding multitasking will prevent you from losing time, efficiency, and quality of work.
This might be easier said than done, but try to eliminate as many distractions as you can during the day. Set aside time for phone calls, checking email, IM chats, and family time.
When your concentration is broken, you become less productive and may even fail to complete your urgent tasks. This can add up to stress, anxiety, and unhappiness.
As a small business owner or entrepreneur, it is tempting to say yes to every opportunity that comes your way. However, learning when to say “no” can exponentially improve your overall life. Not only will turning down things that are not a priority help you maintain a higher quality of work, but it will leave you with more time to focus on your home and personal life.
Finally, you may be able to work a few sixteen-hour days here and there, but if it becomes your regular routine, you will burn out. There is no way to get around it.
Along with keeping your daily work hours reasonable, be sure to take regular breaks throughout the day. Every couple of hours, squeeze in a few minutes to relax, eat a healthy snack, and think about something other than work.
Task management is crucial for running a small business, and it can also transform your everyday life. Consider the tips above as you learn to manage your time and energy more effectively, and you might be shocked at the results! Above all, remember to set clear goals and prioritize your most important commitments.
Would you like to read more helpful content or learn about our project management tool? Visit workast.com today!
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